|
MPT at the
Nonviolent Peaceforce Events
September 24-30, 2007
Nairobi, Kenya
Sheri Wander
and Sayrah Namaste attended three events with the
Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP)
on behalf of Michigan Peace Team: The North American regional meeting,
the International Conference, “Nonviolent Civilian Protection: Building
the Global Capacity” and the International Assembly of member
organizations. Additionally, Sheri attended the International Governance
Council (IGC) meeting as the North American regional
representative to the IGC.
We were proud
that MPT was cited often in plenary and workshops, and many internationals were
referred to us on topics such as domestic peace teams, trainings, roles of
Member Organizations, etc. The MPT representatives accepted many leadership
roles and received public recognition.
NONVIOLENT PEACEFORCE
REPORT ON "NAIROBI WEEK"
including:
North American Regional Meeting
International Governance Council Meeting
International Assembly & International Conference:
“Nonviolent Civilian Protection: Building the Global Capacity”
Sheri Wander and Sayrah Namaste attended four events with the Nonviolent
Peaceforce (NP) on behalf of Michigan Peace Team. This report is intended to
summarize those events. A more in depth report is also available.
 Participants
of the conference included Nobel Peace Laureate
Mairead Maguire; Nobel Peace laureate
Rigoberta Menchu’s representative; members of the organization of
Nobel Peace Laureate
Aung San Suu Kyi; peace activists from Kenya,
Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Senegal, Burundi, Guinea, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Philippines,
Thailand, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Japan, South Korea, Australia,
New Zealand, Cambodia, Austria, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Finland,
France, Norway, Switzerland, Russia, Spain, Romania, Slovakia, Bolivia, Uruguay,
Argentina, Venezuela, Guatemala, Mexico, United States, Canada, Palestine,
Israel, and Lebanon.
North
American Regional Meeting (Day One):
On Monday 24 September participants met as a region (Asia, Africa, Europe, North
America, and Latin America). Sheri and Sayrah met with the North American
region. During this time participants introduced themselves and their
organizations. The 12 North Americans represented were: the
Buddhist Peace
Fellowship,
Fellowship of Reconciliation,
Peaceworkers,
Sept 11th
Families for Peaceful Tomorrows,
Canadian Voice of
Women for Peace,
NP Canada,
U.S. Chapters Association of the Nonviolent Peaceforce,
Pax Christi
International, and
Pace e Bene (and of course,
Michigan Peace Team).
Each
region nominated two representatives to the International Governing Council.
Sheri had served on the IGC but stepped down. MPT nominated Donna Howard
earlier in the year (she had served as co-chair for five years and was willing
to serve again). Faith Edman, active in the US Chapters Assoc of NP, is the
second representative from North America.
There were two major issues that the North American region discussed: the
fact that our member organizations did not reflect the diversity of North
America nor the communities experiencing violence; and the fact that North
America’s military/political/corporate leadership negatively impacts the rest of
the regions of the world. A statement acknowledging North America’s complicity
in wars around the world was written by Sayrah and others and read by Sayrah
later at the International Assembly (see Appendix of full report for
statement). Many representatives thanked us for the statement and asked for
copies of it to share with their members.
MPT received a lot of praise in the North American regional meeting,
particularly from the regional coordinator and the IGC co-chair.
DAYS 2 AND 3: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
On Tuesday 25 September and Wednesday 26 September, Sayrah and Sheri both
attended the International Conference co-sponsored by Nonviolent Peaceforce and
a Member Organization local to Kenya, Chem-chemi ya Ukeweli, called
“Nonviolent Civilian Protection: Building The Global Capacity”. This
conference was separate from the International Assembly itself and was an
opportunity for NP to learn from other guests and visitors working in the field,
as well as to highlight NP to these same people.
After a wonderful welcome with traditional African song and dance, the
conference started with hosts and dignitaries including NP co-chairs Donna
Howard (US) and Omar Dior
(Senegal), Chem-chemi representative and officials from the Kenyan college, the
Kenyan Government, and a representative of the African Union.
CONFERENCE LOCATION: KCCT
Of note was the background of the conference center that hosted us. KCCT (Kenya
College of Communications Technology) is a former British army base.
When Britain left, the army left behind a large amount of communications
equipment and the college/conference center was created. The center has been
host to some amazing things including the Sudan peace talks and the Somalia
peace talks during which those participating spent over two years at the center
working on the peace agreement.
SPEAKERS
The keynote speaker was Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire, who founded
Peace People
in Northern Ireland after her sister and other family members died in the
conflict. Please read more about her powerful talk in the full report (“I would
dialogue with anyone if I thought it would save one human life”). Mairead
remained with us for the most of the week!
The next speaker was George Washira from the
Nairobi Peace
Initiative. George spoke about stories of hope coming out of
Africa. He also spoke about the need for both preparedness/responsiveness (the
capacity and willingness to respond to crisis) and pro-activity/prevention.
Please read highlights of his insights in the full report. (“Our current model
of peace building is status peace building. Those with power are the ones
invited to the negotiating table. Real peace building needs to change who is
invited to the negotiating table including the victims, the women….”).
The final speaker was Liam Mahony, former
Peace
Brigades International (PBI)
volunteer and author of two books: Unarmed Bodyguards and the
recently-published Proactive Presence. Liam’s talk “Lessons
Learned from the Field” combined his lessons from the field with his
research for this latest book: meeting not only with “traditional TPNI
practitioners” but with UN diplomats, military officials, UN peacekeepers, and
humanitarian groups such as the International Red Cross/Red Crescent who often
are the only “presence” in violent areas.
FIRST WORKING GROUP
Following the speakers, the participants broke into seven working groups. Sheri
facilitated “Civilian Protection and Peacebuilding”. The main focus of
this session was how TPNI groups doing “peacekeeping” can effectively work with
groups doing “peacebuilding” and where this compromises our nonpartisanship etc.
(Again, for more complete notes see the full report).
 Sayrah
attended “Civilian Protection as Part of the Humanitarian Effort.” The
former director of the International Red Cross/Red Crescent spoke and was very
intrigued with TPNI in general and MPT specifically. She later sought out Sayrah
to learn more and discuss the possible negative consequences of ICRC if the
engaged in TPNI.
SECOND WORKING GROUP: SPECIFIC COUNTRIES
Sheri attended the emergency working group on Burma (the events in Burma were
unfolding during the conference, and Burmese leaders in exile were in
attendance). Sayrah was advised by a Palestinian representative that the Middle
East working group was not functioning, so (with Sheri’s encouragement) she
attended the group on Uganda. (Later she found out that the Middle East group
had a successful meeting). Nonviolent Peaceforce was considering sending a team
to Uganda, and Sayrah learned the history of the conflict and work being done.
Sheri, as IGC member, later voted with the IGC to send a team to Uganda.
DAY 3: LAST DAY OF INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
The next morning began with NP co-founders Mel Duncan and David Hartsough
sharing the story of how NP started. David also shared his experience as a civil
rights activist when he was assaulted and threatened with death during a lunch
counter sit-in.
PANEL: "How Can Civilian Nonviolent Peacekeeping be Further
Developed?" ; included Niru Vora (India) speaking on the development of a
shanti sena; Geofrey Mugumya (Kenya) speaking about peacekeeping from the point
of view of the African Union, Florence Mpayee (Rwanda) speaking about
cooperation among INGOs to impact groups like the UN - especially the success of
GPPAC, and Rolf Carrier (Netherlands) who has worked with the UN in a variety of
ways and spoke about the potential for cooperation with the UN.
Please see full report but highlights from the panel included:
* Niru --"Internalizing and spiritualizing is the most
important"
* Rolf - "The UN is fundamentally flawed as a state-based
organization. But there is an increased willingness of several agencies to work
together with civil society. UN civilian peacekeepers are not doing 'TPNI' work
as we know it. They are sent more as technical experts and most have military
background/thinking. However, the work they do is useful in what it is, and
finding a way to work together could help us "go to scale".
PLENARY: SRI LANKA—A CASE STUDY FOR PROVIDING HUMAN SECURITY
Marcel Smits, NP's program manager in Sri Lanka, reviewed the work in Sri Lanka
as a case study. Marcel spoke about the four pillars of NP's work in Sri Lanka:
Emergency/Rapid Response, Early Warning/Early Response, Confidence building &
Empowerment and Facilitation of Networks of Support.
He
underscored again and again that the most important thing and what makes the
other stuff possible is relationship building. He stated "trust and relationship
building are the most important because effectiveness is not based on deterrence
but on acceptance." He also spoke a great deal about the challenges NP faced and
still faces in Sri Lanka.
Participants then met in small groups with field team members to learn more
about the firsthand experience of the NP team.
WORKING GROUPS: NATIONAL MONITORS & PEACEKEEPERS AND FUNDRAISING
Sheri was unable to choose the session best for MPT as she acted as a "resource
person" (speaker) for one of the sessions: “National Monitors and
Peacekeepers - a Way of Working Deserving More Attention“. Other
resource people for this group were Fr. Bert Layson from the Philippines and
Chito Generoso from NP's team in Mindano (Philippines). Sheri’s role helped to
publicize more of MPT’s work to the international community.
Sayrah attended the working group on funding civilian peacekeeping to help MPT
with fundraising ideas. NP is discussing the possibility of creating a trust,
pooled together by all of the Member Organizations interested, to get enough of
a fund that they could use the interest to fund all contributors.
The conference closed with a tree planting ceremony, then moved into the opening
of the NP International Assembly with a beautiful and gregarious ceremony
designed and facilitated by Christine (one of our Kenyan hosts) and Sheri.
NP INTERNATIONAL ASSEMBLY
The business of the IA began Thursday 27th September. Former NP – IGC
co-chairs, Claudia (Guatemala) and Tim (UK) presented a report to the member
organizations on work done since the ICE in India. Included in this report was a
summary of “where are we now.” Additionally Mel Duncan, NP Executive Director
presented the minutes of the ICE for ratification. Finally, Tim and Claudia
presented the by-laws from which we have been working to the assembled MOs for
ratification, with the understanding that amendments and changes to these were
to be discussed at a later session. (See appendix II for summary documents
presented in this first business session.)
Additionally we took the time to verify which MOs were present, ensure quorum
and explain voting guidelines.
MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS’ CONCERNS
Participants broke into small groups facilitated by IGC members. The purpose of
these groups was to harvest the questions and concerns from the MOs. Some of the
questions were answered directly within the small group sessions, but the larger
questions and all concerns were brought back to the larger plenary for
discussion. Over-riding themes for concerns were lack of communication between
MOs and IGC, directly related to the concern of lack of avenues for MO
involvement and input. We began problem-solving together solutions to some of
these issues.
REVIEW OF THE 2008-2012 STRATEGIC PLAN
The rest of the day was spent reviewing the strategic plan, amendments to the
strategic plan, language within the plan and recommendations for it. (See
appendix III for summary of strategic plan with approved amendments, and a list
of future recommendations).
The discussion of the Strategic Plan continued Friday 28th Sept, focusing on new
amendments from the regions. The strategic plan was voted on and approved with
consensus.
RESIGNATION
The afternoon moved us into our second business section (See attached reports in
Appendix IV) financial reports, and by-law changes, and an announcement from
Executive Director Mel Duncan. Mel has resigned as Executive Director and will
move into a new role in NP in 2008. The search for an International Director is
underway. Mel felt that he was a good founder but NP needed a new administrator
as it transitions out of its founding years.
FINANCES
Nonviolent Peaceforce has undergone tremendous growth since its founding in
2002. From year to year both our expenditures and our revenue have grown
considerably. A remarkable financial success is shown by the fact that even
during the start up phase, which is often financially very difficult for new
organizations, NP was able to raise enough funds to cover the costs of all
organizational and active field projects.
Unfortunately, 2006 and 2007 have had expenses higher than income. Because of
our reserves, we are not in financial crisis, but this does make it clear that
NP needs to find more and larger sources of income.
NEW REPRESENTATIVES TO THE IGC
Member organizations met again in regional meetings in order to official
nominate our representatives. The two representatives that the North American
Region put forth are Donna Howard and Faith Edman. (See full report for bios).
WORKSHOP
Saturday 29th of September we took time out of the regular schedule to work with
Jinendra Jain on goal setting and values clarification. Jinendra’s stated goals
of the day-long session was to “bring people into alignment with each other and
the goals, mission, and strategic plan of NP” and “To strengthen peoples’
intentions and commitment to NP, our mission and strategic plan that people
leave the conference with.” Unfortunately, this workshop was not well received.
Jinendra has only worked with corporations and he had no experience with this
diverse population. Some MO representatives spoke out about the lack of cultural
context and were supported by most of the participants. In support of their
concerns a longer than usual lunch break was planned and representatives from
all regions, as well as those self-selecting to be part of the group met with
Jinendra and the afternoon session was adapted to some extent based on needs
expressed.
ELECTION OF NEW INTERNATIONAL GOVERNING COUNCIL
Sunday 30th of September the IGC candidates were presented and the official
election was held. The new IGC had full consensus. After an official
closing of the IA, the new and old IGC meet to transition and other participants
attended cultural events.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MICHIGAN PEACE TEAM
We recommend that MPT remain a strong Member organization of the Nonviolent
Peaceforce.(As opposed to the new category of “affiliate"). NP’s
international work is recognized by the United Nations and many heads of state,
as well as other international NGOs. NP is devoted to learning new methods and
refining the forms of TPNI. NP’s structure provides opportunities
for MPT to network and partner with similar organizations.
We recommend MPT use NP as a network to increase its partnerships with other
similar organizations working in the same regions. The North American regional
organizations plan to work towards strengthening its relationships with each
other.
MPT may be able to work with NP to increase its fundraising (see “Fundraising”
in report). We also recommend MPT continue to contribute money to NP for North
American Representatives IGC representatives to attend the annual IGC meeting.
MPT was recognized throughout the conference as a leading TPNI organization in
North America, with a unique role in domestic peace teams. However, MPT’s name
created confusion in this international stage because of the word “Michigan”.
Many people erroneously assumed that MPT only works in Michigan. Therefore, we
urge MPT to consider changing its name. The best case would be to keep the
acronym “MPT” to help with name recognition in the U.S. However, if this is not
possible changing both the name and acronym would be preferable to changing
neither.
REFLECTIONS
Sayrah: "The experience of being with hundreds of inspiring peaceworkers
was very powerful for me. In the midst of all of these outstanding people, some
famous and others deserving to be, I was amazed that MPT was so well recognized
and appreciated. This was largely due to Sheri Wander’s leadership on the
International Governing Council and years of work at NP. As the former office
coordinator of MPT, I did not know just how well respected MPT was on this
international stage until I participated in the conference.
Although I’ve always been excited about the work of NP, I have returned even
more impressed with them. The fact that they do external evaluations of their
teams is something no other peace organization commits to (as far as I know).
The culture of NP was everything that one would hope. And their vision of
becoming a global civilian peacekeeping force is viable.
I was also impressed with NP’s emphasis and value of being truly international,
with balance of Global South and Global North.
One of the difficult parts of being the representative for Michigan Peace Team
was our name. For those who were learning about us and hearing MPT highlighted
at the conference, the word “Michigan” was confusing. An excellent organization
working in Palestine did not realize that we had anything to do with the region
because of this. North American groups didn’t realize we placed domestic teams
outside of Michigan.
MPT’s ability to be a member organization of Nonviolent Peaceforce is more
valuable than I knew previously. I value the global scale work that we are
included in as a member of NP. We also can learn much about the structure and
processes that NP uses. The ability to partner and access information from
peacemakers all over the world is a treasure for MPT."
Sheri: "Attending the NP events in Africa were (and continue to be) an
incredibly powerful experience. In some ways the events stand alone – being with
so many smart, committed and powerful peacemakers is simply amazing. How can I
even start to explain the impact of watching the events in Burma unfold with
those very individuals who are living in exile due to their role in the
democracy movement we were watching take place? Seeing “old” friends and meeting
new ones remind me we are a global community.
Yet, in some ways I cannot separate the events of “Nairobi Week” from the rest
of my work with NP. I am excited about our work, and inspired by it. And, I know
I have learned an incredible amount from my involvement with NP. I believe
that knowledge and those skills have benefited MPT and will continue to do so.
It was a difficult decision to step down from the IGC, but I know it was the
right one. That said, it will not mean an end to my involvement with NP. I have
already taken on several new “jobs”. As well, I hope it will not be an end, or a
lessening of, MPT’s involvement with NP. I honestly believe NP is one of the
most honest and realistic hopes for a more peaceful future."
SYNOPSIS:
We are excited to
share all of the benefits this week of events has had for Michigan Peace Team,
and we list some below.
·
Increased MPT’s visibility in the global network of peacemaking organizations
·
Increased MPT’s visibility in the North American regional network of
peacemaking organizations
·
Increased MPT’s visibility with the Nonviolent Peaceforce structure
·
Improved MPT’s professional development by learning about domestic teams in
other regions of the world (such as India and the Philippines )
·
Understanding concerns from beneficiaries of TPNI (Third Party Nonviolent
Intervention)
·
Ideas for MPT’s professional development in the field of training & capacity
building
Thank you for
supporting us and sharing in this work.
Sheri
Wander
and
Sayrah Namaste
for Michigan Peace Team
| 
